A sorry night for John and the end of a sorry saga for league

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Sorry, John! Apologies don't count for much when you repeatedly
drag rugby league into the gutter, as John Hopoate finally found
out last night.

Facing his ninth serious judiciary charge in eight years,
Hopoate has apologised not just once but five times for the ugly
forearm jolt that left Cronulla rookie Keith Galloway hospitalised
on Sunday with severe concussion and a cut ear.

The first was in the dressing rooms after the Manly winger was
sent off and Galloway was carried off; the second was by telephone
on Monday, with the assistance of his brother, Albert, who quit the
Roosters last year to become a missionary; and the third was
contained in a letter he sent the 19-year-old forward
yesterday.

A public apology was read out at last night's tribunal hearing,
and he said sorry again to Galloway and his family in a statement
read by his manager, Wayne Beavis, after the panel had handed him a
17-match suspension.

Significantly, Hopoate also apologised "to the game of rugby
league". But with a record described by NRL judiciary prosecutor
Paul Conlon as "appalling", it was always going to be a case of too
little too late.

Having advised Beavis he would retire if, as expected, Manly
terminated his contract, Hopoate had obviously worked that out and
he spent most of the 2½-hour hearing with the appearance of
a condemned man.

His mother, Mele, sat at the back of the hearing room but their
eyes rarely met and he showed little emotion throughout
proceedings.

Hopoate wanted the former players who sat in judgement of him to
accept that the incident had been a shoulder charge gone wrong and
his record of mostly misconduct charges, including his infamous
backside-poking antics, includes few similar violent acts.

Conlon asserted that the tackle on Galloway was a late shot with
his elbow but the closest he got to a reaction from Hopoate was
when he said: "Would you accept in hindsight - that's looking back
- that it was a reckless act?"

With Hopoate adamant he was merely trying to put a "big hit" on
Galloway, Conlon replied: "You certainly did that - even after
realising that he had passed the ball."

But that was about as fiery as the hearing got and, in his
public apology, Hopoate said: "It went wrong and I will now suffer
the consequences but I know in my heart there was no intention to
do anything outside the rules.

"During my career I have always tried to play hard and tough but
fair. I have phoned Keith and found great relief in his acceptance
of my sincere apology."